My Audiologist                                         4/17/14

    

     Yesterday I had a “check-up” with my audiologist.  Greg Hall is a man I have known and trusted for many years, our relationship goes back to the Erv Herman days.  Those were the days when Erv was insisting that the trouble with his ears was my soft speaking voice.  I shall always be grateful to Greg for proving that though I may speak softly that was not Erv’s problem. His ears were showing signs of wear and years.

     After Erv died and my own hearing began to fail, Greg was able to re-program Erv’s hearing aids to help me.  As happens over and over again, in death as in life, my beloved continues to support me.  When time and use (or misuse) began to make those hearing aids obsolete, we talked about new ones for me.

     Then I learned a few hard lessons: nothing is perfect specifically no hearing aid will master all of one’s hearing problems.  Testing a hearing aid is like choosing a bathing suit in the age of flab, or picking out eye-glass frames without the aid of prescription lens.  Hearing aids are not a replacement for the acute hearing of our youth. 

     I needed to pick, choose and prioritize.  I wanted to be sure that I could have comfortable and clear conversations on a one-to-one level with my friends? Was it more important to hear them in a crowd? No!  Frequently I sacrificed the speech of the waiter rattling off the specials in a crowded restaurant and depended upon someone sitting with me to repeat his words. I give up large, noisy meetings when the background sounds are distracting and unnerving.  It is difficult to adjust to the noise and concentrate on friends’ words at the same time.  At the end of the day when I am tired, I give up the meeting entirely and stay home.  Nothing works well when we are tired.

     Yes, hearing aids can be a pain, even when we can adjust them.  Without mine, I would be disconnected from my world, some days that is okay.  Most of the time I need my world and my friends so I dutifully care for the aids and use them (almost) every day!  Occasionally when I remove them, a wonderful quiet surrounds me, I sit back, relax and grin.